Dirty Wars

Description

In this story from the frontlines of the undeclared battlefields of the War on Terror, journalist Jeremy Scahill documents the new paradigm of American foreign policy: fought far from any declared battlefield, by units that do not officially exist, in thousands of operations a month that are never publicly acknowledged. From Afghanistan and Pakistan to Yemen, Somalia and beyond, independent journalist Scahill speaks to the CIA agents, mercenaries and elite Special Operations Forces operators who populate the dark side of the many wars Obama's government is fighting. He goes deep into al Qaeda - held territory in Yemen and walks the streets of Mogadishu with CIA-backed warlords. We also meet the survivors of U.S. night raids and drone strikes - including families of U.S. citizens targeted for assassination by their own government - who reveal the human consequences of the dirty wars the United States struggles to keep hidden.show more

About Jeremy Scahill

Jeremy Scahill is the National Security Correspondent for The Nation magazine and one of the world's foremost experts on privatized warfare. He is the author of the international best-seller Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army [9781846686528] also published by Serpent's Tail. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.show more

Review quote

Dirty Wars is the most thorough and authoritative history I've read yet of the causes and consequences of America's post 9/11 conflation of war and national security. I know of no other journalist who could have written it: For over a decade, Scahill has visited the war zones, overt and covert; interviewed the soldiers, spooks, jihadists, and victims; and seen with his own eyes the fruits of America's bipartisan war fever. He risked his life many times over to write this book, and the result is a masterpiece of insight, journalism, and true patriotism -- Barry Eisler, novelist and former operative in the CIA's Directorate of Operation A fearless whistle-blower -- David Courier, Sundance Film Festival There is no journalist in America who has exposed the truth about US government militarism more bravely, more relentlessly and more valuably than Jeremy Scahill. Dirty Wars is highly gripping and dramatic, and of unparalleled importance in understanding the destruction being sown in our name -- Glenn Greenwald, New York Times best-selling author and Guardian columnist Dirty Wars is not politically correct. It is not a history of the last decade as seen from inside the White House, or from the pages of the New York Times and Washington Post. Scahill's book takes us inside Dick Cheney's famed 'dark side' and tells us, with convincing detail and much new information, what has been done in the name of America since 9/11 -- Seymour Hersh A campaigning voice like Scahill's is indispensable -- Mattathias Schwartz London Review of Books A towering new investigation into the secret anatomy of the so-called war on terror ... Scahill has written what could prove to be he defining account of the 21st century's slide into high-tech, legally leveraged savagery -- Ed O'Loughlin Irish Times A great read ... asks vital questions about the scope and parameters of America's use of force Literary Review Arguably the most comprehensive examination of post-September 11, 2001 "war on terror" policies... The power of Scahill's work is making the reader question the legality and morality of American policy Sydney Morning Herald Scahill produces a masterwork of investigative journalism that offers a bleak, chilling vision of our militarized future -- Top Ten Books of 2013 Publisher's Weeklyshow more

Review Text

Dirty Wars is the most thorough and authoritative history I've read yet of the causes and consequences of America's post 9/11 conflation of war and national security. I know of no other journalist who could have written it: For over a decade, Scahill has visited the war zones, overt and covert; interviewed the soldiers, spooks, jihadists, and victims; and seen with his own eyes the fruits of America's bipartisan war fever. He risked his life many times over to write this book, and the result is a masterpiece of insight, journalism, and true patriotism Barry Eisler, novelist and former operative in the CIA's Directorate of Operationshow more